The story that a 61-year-old woman from Beverwijk was cheated out of 800 euros last week after she wanted to give away her television for free made such a stir among NH readers that they took action to give the woman happy holidays. Through donations, Maike has now recovered the entire stolen amount! “Luckily there are still good people out there!”
The indignation among NH readers was enormous after the story was published here on Friday from Mike. She said that she had offered a television on the Facebook page ‘Free to collect’, but that the person who came to collect it had also run off with her wallet. It contained 800 euros in cash, intended for Christmas presents for the family.
“I’m not doing well, I’m very scared,” she said at the time, with great emotion. “I live like a hermit and don’t even dare to leave anymore. It’s just terrible.” Her son Jorge was also white hot. “My mother has Multiple Sclerosis (MS). She can barely walk and hardly goes outside. Now she doesn’t dare leave her house at all.”
The same story also mentioned that Maike would not be the only victim of the suspected perpetrator, and soon after publication other people followed who said they had been scammed by the same man. But… people also quickly came forward who were so concerned about Maike’s fate that they wanted to help her. One of them is Carlo Liefting, a lawyer in daily life. “Normally I live off the crooks and the naughty, but I really enjoy giving something back to sweet and vulnerable people like Maike in this way.”
It turned out that Carlo was not the only one. In fact, several generous donors have ensured that Maike now has the full 800 euros back. And the 61-year-old Beverwijk woman and her son can barely comprehend that. “We are so very grateful. It’s really great that fortunately these kinds of people still exist and not just bad guys. It’s fantastic that we can still get through the holidays in this way without any hassle.”
Foreign
The perpetrator is still at large, the police said. Readers also found that strange, they said. After all, he would be known to the police, so he should be able to be arrested. However, a spokesperson said on Sunday: “In general terms, I can say that it does not work that way. If we do not catch someone red-handed, other protocols must be followed before we can arrest someone. I can I would like to say that we are in any case investigating this matter.”